The Newsletter of The Friends of and Garrison Common v. 17 No. 4 Dec. 2013

1 Fort York and the Origins of Canada’s 7 Farewell to George Waters Permanent Army 7 From the Gallery 3 Cholera Epidemics in York in 1832 and 1834 8 Administrator’s Report 4 Bicentennial Timeline: Jan. to Mar. 1814 9 New Cookbook: Setting a Fine Table 5 The Friends’ Accomplishments in 2013 10 Upcoming Events 6 In Review, All Their Glory Past

Fort York and the Origins of Canada’s Permanent Army by Stephen Harris

Although the has frequently (and with reason) been described as a collection of sovereign regiments whose quirky peculiarities hindered the inculcation of common doctrine and a shared way of doing things, for a century and a half it has nevertheless had a cultural and professional “centre”: Salisbury Plain in southern England and the associated sprawl there that encompasses Aldershot, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and the Staff College, Camberley.

Is there a similar thing in Canada–a single cultural and professional “home” for the ? I suspect not, but several locations might make a claim to at least a share. Kingston probably has the strongest because it has been home to the Royal Military College of Canada/ le Collège militaire royale du Canada since 1876 and the Canadian Army Staff The men of “C” Company, Infantry School Corps, form up on the parade square College since the Second World War. The current generation at the New Fort, , in 1888. Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Larry Becker of soldiers might point to Wainwright, Alberta–formerly a Collection, Fonds 70 regional training area which gained “national” standing because of the state of the art facility developed there for the combat in take the responsibility of local defence seriously. A three- Afghanistan. An earlier generation might suggest Gagetown, month course focussing on company drill and administration New Brunswick, purpose-built in the 1950s and home to the was designed for those aspiring to a commission, with a further Combat Training Centre and Cold War collective training three months required to qualify for battalion command. for decades. Historically, Valcartier, Quebec, was home to the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, while The Toronto and schools were so popular that Petawawa, , developed just before the First World War, additional ones were established in Montreal, Kingston, was the training ground for the Permanent Force, Canada’s Hamilton, and London, and the list of graduates, well over professional standing army, once its role was expanded beyond two thousand, covered twenty pages in the 1865-1866 Militia providing instruction to the part-time militia. Report. Although clearly not Sandhurst, the Royal Military Academy Woolwich, or West Point’s Military Toronto also has a place in the story, not because of its reserve Academy, the existence of these schools underscored the idea regiments but because of what occurred at the “new” Fort York, that military leadership required “professional” development later named Stanley , not long after land was secured and that officers should be commissioned and promoted on the for the British Army around Aldershot and the Staff College basis of merit, not their political affiliation or social standing. was established at Camberley. The New Fort, built for units They needed to do more than merely appear on parade (or the of the British Army’s North American garrison in 1841, was battlefield) to succeed. selected in 1864 as one of two experimental schools of military instruction for officers of the Canadian sedentary militia and The Toronto school, the most successful of them all, was volunteer force (today’s reserve). This was one element of a manned by the 17th Foot, 13th Hussars, and 29th Foot in concerted imperial effort to persuade colonial authorities to succession, but like the rest it closed in 1870 when the British were not–“a standing army.” Tensions grew when, in 1892, the scattered companies of the Infantry School Corps became the Canadian Regiment of Infantry and the squadrons of the Cavalry School Corps, the Canadian Dragoons. Now that they were organized regimentally, Permanent Force officers were even more prone to proclaim their status as members of a putative standing army and bewail the fate “which makes [them] nothing but merely school masters.”

Service in South Africa, where Otter commanded the Royal Canadian Regiment at Paardeburg, improved the public’s perception of Canada’s Permanent Force regulars, as did their service in the two world wars and Korea, but the country’s overarching military policy and culture still relied upon the mobilization of the militia’s citizen soldiers. It was only in the 1950s, in fact, that the conundrum was resolved. Given events in Korea, the onset of the Cold War (with its requirement to A dog at his knee, Lt. Col. William Otter, commandant of Toronto’s “C” Company, Infantry School Corps, is seen with his fellow officers on the steps of maintain a full-time deterrent capability in Europe), and the the Officers’ Quarters in the New Fort in 1884. Credit: City of Toronto Archives, understanding that a Third World War would allow no time Larry Becker Collection, Fonds 70 for mobilization, the regulars would henceforth take pride of place in the defence establishment. Although they would government withdrew its troops from Canada except for the still train the militia, for the first time this was demonstrably garrison at the Halifax Citadel. Canadian officers on long- a secondary duty. The “school corps” were unarguably the term contracts maintained a modicum of instruction (without Canadian standing army. benefit of attached troops) after the British left, but all the schools died a natural death by 1874: voting with their feet, Stephen Harris is a graduate of McMaster University and Duke students simply stopped attending. The two schools University. His PhD dissertation, Canadian Brass: The Making established at Kingston and Quebec flourished, however, of a Professional Army, was published by University of Toronto because they were permanently manned; and although the Press in 1989. He joined the staff of the Directorate of History, process would take almost a decade, once it was clear that the National Defence Headquarters, in 1979. He is currently Acting Royal Military College of Canada would never satisfy militia Director and Chief Historian. requirements, the pressure to replicate the training that had existed in the mid-1860s mounted. Finally, in June 1883, the Canadian government agreed with those who maintained that the country needed better organized schools of military instruction, and infantry and cavalry “school corps” were established to provide instruction to the militia–and pointedly NOT to serve as an embryonic, standing army.

Toronto’s “C” Company, Infantry School Corps, stationed at the New Fort, was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thanks to Canada Post’s make- William Otter, who himself had attended the British-run your-own stamp program, school at Toronto as a sergeant in 1863, and then again to members of The Friends of Fort qualify for his commission in 1864. As Commanding Officer York may receive mail from us of Toronto’s Queen’s Own Rifles, in 1880 he had compiled bearing postage depicting Joe and published The Guide, meant to provide militiamen with a Gill, our genial former chair. sense of the duties, practices, procedures, and policies required The photo used on the stamp to produce efficient regiments, and its contents served as the of him in his costume as Mr. core of the curriculum, first in Toronto and then elsewhere. Secretary Jarvis was taken by Indeed, as amended, updated, and republished many times fellow-director Sid Calzavara. until 1916, it became the militia “bible.” The stamp was created on Joe’s birthday. In its own strange way, The Guide also helped sow seeds of discontent among Permanent Force officers insofar as they were prevented from “real soldiering”–that is to say, prevented from leading and commanding the kinds of regiments and battalions described in The Guide. “Like jackdaws in peacocks’ plumes,” railed one critic, they aspired to be something they

2 The Fife and Drum Cholera Epidemics in York [Toronto] in 1832 and 1834 by Kamran Khan and Stephen Otto

In 1831, during the period of the second cholera pandemic, the disease reached England. A year later, it arrived on the shores of North America aboard emigrant ships crossing the Atlantic. Moving swiftly up the St. Lawrence, it next appeared in Montreal on June 9th, Kingston on June 17th, and finally York on June 18th, 1832.

Unfortunately, York was completely unprepared for the arrival of cholera. On June 21st the local government named several doctors and laymen to a Board of Health to monitor the cholera epidemic and recommend sanitary measures to counter it. Unfortunately, the Board lacked the coercive powers to enhance sanitation and deal with overcrowding as unprecedented numbers of new immigrants arrived to swell the town’s population. While York was exceptional in having a general hospital, funding for it was inadequate, and there was widely shared prejudice against receiving care there. Within a week of cholera having arrived in York, it had appeared in Hamilton, Brantford, and elsewhere in . Its spread was rapid and often deadly. Credit: broadside collection By contrast, Fort York was better prepared. In the early 19th century, cholera evolved into one of the The fort had its own world’s first globalized infectious diseases. Endemic along hospital and medical the Ganges River for centuries, this highly contagious disease officer, Dr. John Shortt spread throughout India in 1817 in association with the of the 79th Regiment, Kumbh Mela, an ancient religious mass gathering. After this who was able to congregation along the Ganges River concluded, cholera quarantine the garrison spread to Calcutta and Bombay as infected pilgrims returned and order measures home. From there, it spread along global transportation routes to improve sanitation to the world’s major cities during the first cholera pandemic and personal hygiene. (1817-1824). A few years later, a similar series of events Shortt also had strong triggered the second cholera pandemic (1829-1851), where support from the Army the disease spread from India to cities across Europe and then Medical Service in the United Kingdom, North America–including York [Toronto] where it caused deadly epidemics in 1832 and 1834. and the advantage of Dr. John Shortt was the medical officer knowing what steps had for the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameron been effective at other Highlanders) stationed at Fort York in 1832. Cholera infections result when Vibrio bacteria are ingested Thanks largely to his precautions to isolate through contaminated food or water. Most infected individuals military posts, such as the garrison, enforce hygienic measures, do not develop illness, even though they can shed infectious Montreal and Kingston. and care promptly for those who contracted bacteria in their feces. Among those who develop illness, cholera cholera, very few died from it. Credit: City of Toronto, Museum Services, 1971.42.160 causes a profuse watery diarrhea with up to 20 litres of fluid As summer progressed losses in a single day, resulting in death from rapid dehydration. the epidemic took its toll, even though not everyone who developed cholera Since the germ theory of disease was not established at the died from it. By the end of July 1832, 81 of 183 people time of the 1832 cholera epidemic in York, a full understanding with cholera had died. By September 12th, 205 of 535 had of its mode of transmission was not known. This knowledge died–a mortality rate of close to 40%. Most victims were came two decades later in 1854, when John Snow, an English buried either in Potter’s Field or the Western burying ground physician often considered to be the founder of modern on Bathurst Street at the end of Adelaide. Although 109 epidemiology, identified a spatial relationship between burials had occurred in the latter place by early August, clusters of cholera cases and a public water pump in Soho, it never became a permanent cemetery. Known originally London. Hence, citizens of York not only lacked a complete as McDonell Square, the land was granted to the Roman understanding of how cholera spread, but also access to modern Catholic Church in 1837 and renamed Portugal Square in antibiotics and vaccines. In the early 19th century, treatment of 1960. Churches named for St. Mary have occupied the site diseases reflected the belief that they were caused by toxins that since 1852. could be eliminated with laxatives, emetics, and bleeding.

Mail: 260 Adelaide St. E., Box 183, Toronto, M5A 1N1 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.fortyork.ca The Fife and Drum 3 Cholera did not respect social station: Mary White who died from cholera in July 1832 was the mother-in-law of William Henry Draper, a member of the so-called Family Compact and later chief justice of Upper Canada. She was buried in St. James churchyard, but her remains and those of two grandchildren were moved to St. James Cemetery on Parliament Street after it opened in 1844. Photo by Duncan McLaren, with help from Brian Gilchrist in finding the marker

The first cholera death connected with Fort York came on August 9th when Rebecca, a daughter of Capt. Jeremiah Radcliffe, succumbed. Five days later the scourge claimed the life of Dr. James Muttlebury, and on August 16th it carried off Drum Major James Lee of the 79th Regiment. Dr. Muttlebury, the retired Inspector of [Army] Hospitals in Britain, had recently immigrated to Upper Canada. He was interred with military honours in Victoria Square although the attending soldiers were forbidden to touch the coffin, leaving the Rev. and his son to shift it from the wagon to the grave.

Cases of cholera were reported again in York in 1833, followed by another large epidemic in 1834. In subsequent years, Toronto would endure epidemics of deadly infectious diseases including typhus, smallpox, polio, and most recently SARS.

Today, cholera is largely confined to the world’s poorest countries, where it causes three to five million infections and 100,000 deaths every year. The explosive impact of cholera was recently observed in Haiti in 2010, after an earthquake devastated the sanitation infrastructure in the poorest nation in the Americas. As though history was repeating itself, cholera was inadvertently introduced into Haiti through infected international aid workers from South Asia, triggering the worst cholera outbreak in modern times. Since then, the Haitian outbreak has caused nearly 700,000 infections and more than 8000 deaths, highlighting why cholera remains one of the most feared infectious diseases even in modern times.

Dr. Kamran Khan is an infectious disease physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Stephen Otto is co-chair of The Friends of Fort York.

Bicentennial Timeline: January to March 1814 Jan. 5 US President James Madison and James Monroe, Mar. 14 Seeking to conserve secretary of state, accepted a British offer of direct food supplies Lieutenant- negotiations to end the war. The commissioners opened General Gordon Drummond in discussion in Ghent on August 8. his capacity as Administrator for Upper Canada prohibited Jan. 12 Patrick Hartney, barrack master at Fort York the distillation of spirits or and a widower, was married to Mary Marshall by Rev. John low wines from wheat, corn, or Strachan. (see “Patrick Hartney, barrack master at Fort York,” other grain during the ensuing Fife and Drum December 2011) season. Feb. In late January, 216 seamen sailed Mar. 19 Six men summoned from Halifax to Saint John where citizens provided sleighs to explain why they had failed to transport them on to Fredericton. Setting off for Quebec to send their teams and sleighs in early February they arrived by the end of the month then for government service were marched off to Kingston, making fifty-three days on the dismissed when the constable George-Theodore Berthon, road. did not attend court in York. Portrait of Lieut. General Gordon Drummond, Administrator of Upper Mar. Although Col. Ralph Bruyeres of the Royal Mar. 30 An invading force of Canada, 1813-1815. Credit: Archives Engineers reported “a total want of Artificers” Fort York’s 4000 American regulars was of Ontario, item no. 693127 existing Blockhouses One and Two were completed this month. repelled at the second Battle Mar. 4 At the Battle of the Longwoods, near Glencoe, of Lacolle in . Ontario, an American victory over a larger force of British regulars, militia, and Native allies was consistent with the spotty control the British had over the western part of the province during the last year of the war.

4 The Fife and Drum What The Friends of Fort York Do: • sponsored two evenings in the ongoing Parler Fort series. • added more than two dozen recently published titles on Our Accomplishments for 2013 the to the collections in the fort’s Resource Centre which is funded by The Friends and staffed by • with our revenues from operating parking lots during the volunteers. CNE and other events having ceased, we moved to invest our accumulated cash surplus so we can continue to support the • funded most of the cost for a twelve-person Guard and Fort York Guard in partnership with other sponsors. a Drum Corps of six in 2013. The 200th anniversary of the on April 27 and the Fort York Festival in • marked the first anniversary of our new website www. mid-June provided them with record-breaking audiences. fortyork.ca, which had over 67,000 hits this year, 108,000 hits More evidence of the Guard’s precision and polish came since it went online in May 2012. Some 265 people subscribed when it won the inter-site guard competition at Fort George to our Fife and Drum newsletter there, dozens of new in August. In October a portion of the Guard attended the members joined, and many donations were received. Search Tecumseh celebrations in London. Engine Optimization (SEO) resulted in substantially higher traffic to the site. • saw three senior members of the Guard retire at the end of the season: Colour Sergeant Mark Riches, Lance Corporal • published four issues of The Fife and Drum, which Samantha Horne, and Fifer/Bugler Graeme Sylvia whose now reaches about 3700 readers a quarter. Articles on the contributions will be greatly missed. bicentennial of the Battle of York in 1813, on heroes like Laura Secord and Tecumseh, and reports on the new Visitor • saw the Drum Corps’ repertoire and drilling skills Centre were included. The March issue highlighting the expanded under Drum-Major Baknel Macz. Battle bicentennial went to about 25,000 readers thanks to our • co-operated with Palatine Hills Winery in a special co-operating partners. promotion of its 1812-brand wines using neck-tags and • advertised in four issues of Spacing magazine, capping a point-of-sale materials in over 300 LCBO stores from five-year series. February through June.

• inaugurated a mapping website for Fort York and Military • partnered with the City to develop a new brochure for Reserve jointly with Nathan Ng who has two other city-wide visitors. It will be ready in early 2014 in advance of the mapping sites. Over 100 plans, all enlargeable for better study, opening of the new Visitor Centre. are posted at fortyorkmaps.blogspot.ca The site has had some • raised strong objections to a casino at in a 32,000 hits since this spring. letter to the Mayor and Council. • held eleven monthly board meetings. One or more directors • revised our bylaws as required by new government also attended every public event and function at the fort. regulations and submitted them for approval. • re-established a Precinct Advisory Committee of experts • maintained a watching brief on the Fort York Armoury to help us take positions on the many planning studies, public and adjacent area at 800 Fleet Street. While recognizing that works, and private developments in the fort’s vicinity queuing things will be in flux as the neighbourhood surrounding the up for official approval. site develops, we are opposed to anything that compromises • framed several more images showing 19th century soldiers permanently Fort York’s integrity. at their ease. In early 2014 more than two dozen of these • saw the Fort York Volunteers flourish in their second pictures will be hung in the main room in the Blue Barracks. year as partners in helping guide visitors around the fort, • co-sponsored ceremonies in April and November where 80 particularly on high traffic occasions. people received their Canadian citizenship in an auspicious • welcomed the chance for more people to get to know the setting in front of family and friends. fort when they attended summer concerts on the Common • held our fifteenth Georgian Dinner in support of the Fort which attracted more than 50,000 people in 2013. York Guard. As is customary the menu included dishes of For comparison, our accomplishments for 1994-2012 can be the period prepared by the fort’s Volunteer Cooks under the found on our website http://www.fortyork.ca/about-us/our- direction of Bridget Wranich who runs the fort’s culinary accomplishments.html programs.

Mail: 260 Adelaide St. E., Box 183, Toronto, M5A 1N1 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.fortyork.ca The Fife and Drum 5 In Review: And All Their Glory Past by Robert L. Fraser

Donald E. Graves. And All Their Glory Past: Fort Erie, Plattsburgh and the Final Battles in the North, 1814. Robin Brass Studio, 2013. 440 pages, illustrations and maps, appendices, notes, and index. $24.95 (paper)

Donald Graves’s interest in the War of 1812 is decades old. In Among the book’s illustrations is a painting, “Repulsion of the British at Fort 1982 he submitted his MA thesis to Carleton University; it Erie, 15th August 1814,” by E.C. Watmough. Credit: Chicago History Museum, The Bridgeman Art Library was a study of Joseph Willcocks, the Company of Canadian Volunteers, and political disaffection in Upper Canada. Often on military history, Graves sees it as the responsibility of described as the “pre-eminent” historian of early Canadian historians such as himself not to forget those who fight and military history, Graves has published well beyond the sometimes die doing so. He has, it may be justly said, done boundaries of the period and of this country. In the process, his bit and more, whether they served in 1812-14 or 1944-45. he has acquired a deserved reputation not only for the Moreover, he is as fair in his treatment of the United States quantity of his work but also for its quality. Army “poorly led, supplied and trained” as he is to the British, the militia, and the Natives. And All Their Glory Past completes a trilogy, the first two volumes of which were published in the 1990s. As he puts Graves is aware of the hazards of writing military history. it, “Long overdue, it is finished at last. . . .” Graves’s work is On the one hand, some historians treat the combatants as notable for the breadth and depth of his research, a wide- little more than “toy soldiers” while on the other hand there ranging perspective that includes all combatants, an intrinsic is a tendency to turn battles “into bloodthirsty dramatics.” fairness in evaluating the participants and the problems He avoids both successfully, managing deftly the difficult they encountered, an ability to balance strategic concerns feat of conveying what surgeon William “Tiger” Dunlop with tactical imperatives, a commitment to the soldier’s called the “suffering, pain, and misery” while never losing view whether private or general, and an appreciation for sight of strategic, tactical, and operational considerations. ground, logistics, administration, weather, communication, Graves provides first-rate evaluations of the crippling effect politics, and the weapons and technology of warfare. This of Commodore James Yeo’s fixation on the primacy of accomplishment is no mean feat and, once again, Graves building the warship St. Lawrence at the expense of supplying demonstrates convincingly his mastery of this wide array of infantry formations in the western province and the naval subjects. He brings them together in a judicious, balanced, formations on Lake Champlain; he admirably balances the and fair assessment of the last years of the war in the northern strategic importance of Sir George Prevost’s defensive-minded theatre: “two major military (and naval) operations, separated leadership in the early years of the war with his caution in by hundreds of miles and fought by five different land the last year; he tackles directly Lieutenant-Colonel William formations and four different naval squadrons.” Whereas Drummond’s decision at Fort Erie to give the Americans “no the first two volumes of his trilogy concentrated “on the quarter”; and he demonstrates convincingly the effectiveness operational and tactical level of war,” this one has added of the British blockade of the United States and that country’s the strategic. “Blending” the three levels “into one readable growing difficulty in financing the war, the longer it lasted. narrative” was, he admits, “a rather tricky task” but he has As usual, Graves and his publisher provide the reader with managed admirably and successfully. excellent maps, a good array of illustration, and superb appendices (seven in all). In 1986, one of Canada’s most successful infantry battalion commanders of the Second War told me that the essential Graves’s reputation within the historiography of the War prerequisites for an infantry officer were “people and of 1812 receives eloquent testimony from a large group of ground.” Graves handles both adroitly. He begins his book specialists on the period and the topic; snippets of their with the observation that “It is one thing to write about comments appear on the back of the book and in its first men who fought and died nearly two centuries ago; it is pages. The praise is well deserved since Graves has produced quite another to gaze at their mortal remains.” He had “this yet another fine study of 1812. This war and those who fought unique (and sobering) experience” in 1987 when he visited in it were once almost forgotten. That observation is no longer the archaeological site at Fort Erie containing the remains true and much of the credit goes to Donald Graves. of thirty-one men who had died there in August/September 1814. He finished the book against the backdrop of the Robert L. Fraser is Executive Officer, Dictionary of Canadian Canadian military mission in Afghanistan which will end Biography/ Dictionnaire biographique du Canada, University in 2014. Over the course of more than thirty years of work of Toronto.

6 The Fife and Drum George Waters, A Very Fine Friend of Fort York by Joe Gill Sadly, George Waters passed away on 3 December 2013, aged 73, at Brampton Civic Hospital. He is mourned by his wife Ella, sons David and Stephen, and four grandchildren, Lauren, Ben, Lukas, and Evelyn. He’ll be missed also by all those involved with Fort York. Certainly he led a life worth celebrating.

George was connected with Fort York for an amazing fifty years. He got his start during university, working summers as a uniformed interpreter. Upon graduation from Victoria College with a B.Sc., he took a permanent position as the fort’s curator. Later he was appointed deputy director of the Toronto Historical Board, which operated the fort. Scott James, his boss there, recalls relying on his knowledge, administrative skills, and calm and steady demeanour. George retired in 1999 as managing director for the Board, by then known informally as Heritage Toronto.

He joined The Friends of Fort York in 1996 as one of our original directors and always gave us his best advice and energies. He was our collective memory, having had more experience at the fort than the rest of us combined. Besides his work with The Friends, he was vice-chair of the Fort York Management Board until City Council disbanded it, and a member of the board of Peel Art Gallery, Museum & Archives in Brampton. For twenty-five years George was a Cub Scout leader. He took a role in the Bible Class at his church for forty-five years, the last two decades as its leader.

George understood the crucial value to Fort York of developing volunteer support. In our early years The Friends of Fort York wished to embark on a venture full of risk for a group made up mostly of retirees: the production of a weekend-long historical re-enactment. We set out our vision of an event involving 200 to 300 re-enactors camping at the fort. They would be provided with breakfast, lunch, and dinner; visitors could buy beer, hamburgers, and other foods. Everything was to be managed and operated by volunteers. Understandably, those running the fort saw the risks of failure and didn’t want to participate. To his credit, George listened to his staff and supported their decision. But equally, he understood the importance of our venture and, as managing director of Heritage Toronto, cleared us to proceed on our own. Supported by many family members and volunteers from local communities The Friends staged Fort York Festivals annually for four years. In the first year, with a bit of bravado, we even barbecued an 800 lb side of beef to feed one and all. In the last year we staged a re-enactment of the landing of the American forces in 1813. Involving 450 re-enactors and five tall ships it attracted an audience of approximately 5000 spectators at Kew Beach. George and Ella Waters participated as volunteers at each festival including much hands-on work in the fort’s kitchen. Farewell George.

From the Gallery The Gallery on The Friends’ website www.fortyork.ca has over 150 images documenting the fort’s history. This one, taken about 1900 by the Toronto photographer A.H.O. Freemantle, is among several early pictures of Fort York in the Larry Becker Collection at the City of Toronto Archives. It shows Michael Brophy, a Crimean veteran, wearing his military decorations (for which he was renowned around town) in front of the east door of the Officers’ Mess.

Credit: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 70, series 327, sub-series 1

Mail: 260 Adelaide St. E., Box 183, Toronto, M5A 1N1 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.fortyork.ca The Fife and Drum 7 News From

The BirthplaceContributions of from theToronto Staff at the Fort

construction of the main entry walks to the building. Window Administrator’s Report frames have been installed and the general contractor is now heating the building using portable heaters in order to by David O’Hara, Site Administrator advance all interior components. The first parts of our master On the heels of our successful, albeit soggy, On Common plan for signage were installed this fall: two signs at the Ground: Festival of Culture and Community, we moved into Strachan Avenue pedestrian entrance and one at the corner our fall event season. As part of Nuit Blanche we had an of Fort York Blvd and Bathurst Street. independent installation at Fort York with “The Other Side of the Gardiner.” Set beneath the Gardiner Expressway, this immersive installation was created with light, snow, and sound by Abraham Galway and Lauren Poon (http://cargocollective. com/theothersideofthegardiner). October also included Fort York after Dark tours as part of Halloween programming.

In partnership with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, we held another successful Citizenship Ceremony on November 8. Although the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, was unable to attend at the last minute, we were pleased to have Senator Don Meredith in attendance. Also on hand to greet our newest citizens Completion of the Visitor Centre and implementation of were Councillor Mike Layton, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, and several of the major landscape improvements will certainly human rights activist Sally Armstrong. A special thank you result in a very complicated site throughout 2014. Programs and congratulations to the Fort York Building Citizenship planned for the first quarter and over the busy summer Committee for all their ongoing work. season will exacerbate the situation. With many events scheduled for the Garrison Common, it’s likely that major The site was busy with many other activities throughout work not completed in the spring will be held over until fall the fall. Filming on-site included YTV’s Cache Craze and in order to minimize the impact on events and site access. episodes of Showcase’s Beauty and the Beast. At the end By the end of the year, a first phase of landscaping will be of September, the SickKids Foundation once again held complete and we will be working towards the installation the Great Camp Adventure at Fort York, bringing over 1400 of new exhibits in the Visitor Centre. Planning for 2014 campers, sponsors, partners, volunteers, and Camp Crew to events, including celebration of the Visitor Centre opening, the site, and raising more than $1.3 million for SickKids. is underway; details will be provided soon. One focus in the year ahead will be programs, exhibits, and events related to Our annual Remembrance Day ceremony was well attended the centennial of the Great War. once again. Undertaken in partnership with the Toronto Municipal Chapter IODE (Imperial Order Daughters of the David Spittal, senior project coordinator for the Visitor Empire), this ceremony has taken place in the Strachan Centre, reports that over 80% of the Visitor Centre’s concrete Avenue Military Burial Ground for over fifty years. Other core shell, including the building façade and roof, is complete. programming included pastry and mince pie workshops and Mechanical equipment has been delivered, and electrical our 2nd annual Frost Fair on December 7 and 8. Capital work and other site-servicing work continues. For those visiting across the site is ongoing, with many projects continuing the site, our General Contractor, Harbridge + Cross, has throughout the winter months. The Fort York Visitor Centre installed the first weathered steel panel at the far west end of is moving along and completion of the building shell makes the building. This first panel was installed early as a test. The it much easier now to get a sense of the building from both building itself is expected to be substantially complete by the the Garrison Common and Fort York Boulevard perspectives. end of May 2014, with exhibit installation and landscaping The 2013 phase of site work for the Visitor Centre is scheduled over the summer months. An official opening date now complete, including paving of the parking lot and has yet to be finalized.

8 The Fife and Drum New Cookbook Launched Bridget Wranich, co-founder of the Culinary Historians of Canada, and Elizabeth Baird, CHC member, have collaborated on a lovely little book, Setting a Fine Table: Historical Desserts and Drinks from the Officers’ Kitchens at Fort York. It is a mouth-watering selection of cakes, cookies, pastries, puddings, and drinks from Fort York National Historic Site. Research and testing was done by the fort’s Volunteer Historic Cooks. The recipes, drawn from British, American, and Canadian cookbooks of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, are featured in the Historic Foodways Programme which recreates the cooking practices and lifestyles of British officers in a fort in Upper Canada in the early 19th century. The thirty favourites include the original, historic recipe as well as its modern equivalent. Remembrance Day Service Each is introduced by Chris Laverton, Roland Wardle, and Kevin Hebib (l. to r.) in an explanation of why uniforms from the First World War and War of 1812 add it was chosen, how it a haunting note to the Remembrance Day service in the would have been used Strachan Avenue military burying ground. As usual, several in the fort in the past, hundred people attended. Photo by John Goddard and how it is used there today. With beautiful photographs and a bibliography of the original sources this book will appeal to everyone interested in historic cooking and Canada’s past.

Published by Whitecap Books at $19.95, Setting a Fine Table is available at the Canteen at Fort York and bookstores across Canada.

Beware of Geeks Sharing GIFs The word GIF, coined as a noun in 1987, was not accepted into the Oxford Dictionary as a verb until 2012. The Fife and Drum editors mark this 25-year interval by sharing an animated GIF by Ian Harris showing views of Fort York taken many years apart. http://imageshack.us/a/img543/8163/ igsm.gif

Battle of Châteauguay Bicentennial La Musique des Voltigeurs de Québec in plumed hats, a lone Kahnawake warrior in the rear, and soldiers from reserve units sharing the battle honour “Châteauguay” surround the monument on the Châteauguay battlefield on 26 October 2013. Ceremonies marked the 200th anniversary of the occasion when the original Voltigeurs Canadiens and their Native allies led by Lt. Col. Charles-Michel de Salaberry routed US Major General Wade Hampton and his invading forces. Photo by Nicolas de Salaberry

Mail: 260 Adelaide St. E., Box 183, Toronto, M5A 1N1 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.fortyork.ca The Fife and Drum 9 DONATE NOW! CLICK HERE

The Fort York Visitor Centre, now under construction . Artist rendering courtesy of Patkau Architects Inc./ Kearns Mancini Architects Inc.

Family Day Upcoming Events Mon. February 17, 11 am to 4:30 pm 2014 Historic Fort York Explore the and Fort York. Visit the fort’s historic kitchen and sample some baking from the hearth. Hot chocolate and a roaring fire will make this visit memorable. Compiled by Kristine Williamson Free admission. Due to construction, on-site parking is limited. Mad for Marmalade, Crazy for Citron! Visitors are encouraged to walk, take transit or Sat. February 22, 10 am to 3:30 pm bike to the site. Join Fort York National Historic Site in partnership with the Culinary Historians of Canada for our eighth annual celebration of marmalade. Enjoy a marmalade themed workshop, lunch, and tastings, or enter the Marmalade Competition. Your ticket includes a tour of Fort JANUARY York. Queen Charlotte’s Birthday Ball Admission $45 + tax (before February 3), $50 + tax (after February 3) Sat. January 18, 1 to 10:30 pm Pre-registration required. For more information call 416-392-6907 x225, or to register x221. Afternoon dance workshops, elegant Georgian inspired buffet supper, and evening ball with live musicians. Diners will also enjoy a presentation by Wayne Reeves, chief curator City of MARCH Toronto Museums and Heritage Services. We encourage you to come in costume. Admission for the day $88.50 + tax Fort York War of 1812 March Break Pre-registration required. Call 416-392-6907 x221. Mon. to Fri. March 10 to 14, 10 am to 3 pm Bring the kids down to the fort during March Break for fun-filled activities. Families can learn about Fort York and the War of 1812 through colourful exhibits, costumed education FEBRUARY staff, tours, and 1812-related activities. Children can dress up, try cooking in the kitchen, Historic Foodways Cooking Class: Georgian Desserts practice musket and sword drills like an 1812 soldier, or learn about music from the War of 1812. Timed and ongoing activities offer education and entertainment for the whole Sun. February 9, 10:30 am to 3:30 pm family. Guides and audio tours are available in our Museum Store which also carries a wide When and what kind of desserts were served at a Georgian dinner? Learn about it while selection of souvenirs and books for all ages.This event is recommended for ages 3 to12. making delicious creams and sweetmeats. Lunch is included. Regular admission. No registration required. Admission $75 + tax Pre-registration required. Call 419-392-6907.

Visit our website at: www.fortyork.ca. Learn more about Fort York, subscribe to the free newsletter, become a member, donate or browse our historical image gallery. Editor Emeritus Stephen Otto Editor Patricia Fleming Regular Admission to Fort York (all prices include taxes) Graphic Design Ted Smolak (Arena Design) Adult: $9:00, Senior (65+) & Youth (13–18): $5.50, Circulation Elizabeth Quance Children (6 –12): $4.25, Children (5 and under): FREE The Fife and Drum is a quarterly publication of the The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common

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